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A Historical Archaeology of the Commonwealth Block 1850-1950

Summary

Melbourne’s Commonwealth Block was a central city neighbourhood that existed for a century (from roughly 1850 to 1950) as a place of working-class residence and employment. Intermeshed with these working-class networks was a complicated landscape of small-scale businesses, and a cluster of large factories. This project is an Australian Research Council-funded Linkage project undertaken by La Trobe University and Museum Victoria to consolidate, amalgamate and enhance the available site and artefact data from all previous archaeological investigations on the Commonwealth Block. This work formed the basis of detailed analysis of the assemblage and transnational approaches to understanding the movement of people, capital and technology in this period along with the consequences of migration, and of the creation of global economies and local identities. In terms of rationale, purpose and process the project was a continuation of the Exploring the Archaeology of the Modern City (EAMC) project. The project also aimed to develop a sustainable framework for the management of large archaeological collections.